valeriel's Corn Salad

val sent me this recipe last fall! Around Thanksgiving! I filed it safely in the recipe folder and then never got this up. I am appalled with myself. Thankfully she gave me a hard time about this & I was able to find it. Whew!

val writes: One could certainly make this salad and eat it right away, but it is really, really MUCH better after it sits over night. The flavor meld together wonderfully and the Miracle Whip twang disappears! Also, I used quite a bit of salt to season the salad, but thank goodness, it didn't turn out too salty.

• 2 cans whole kernel corn (very well drained)
• 4-6 stalks green onion, chopped
• 1-2 big firm tomatoes (well drained), chopped
• 2-4 T Miracle Whip
• 3-4 oz. Bacon bits (hold out enough to sprinkle some across the top when you're done!)
• salt
• tsp pepper
• crushed red pepper

Mix the vegetables together, making sure they drain well, so that the salad won't be runny or soggy. I would chop the tomato and onion about the same size as the corn. Add the Miracle Whip one tablespoon at a time so the salad won't end up being runny. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Joann uses a smidge of crushed red pepper for color not to make the salad spicy. Sprinkle the top of the salad with the remaining bacon bits. Voilá!

Top Chef's "Chino Latino" Seafood Sausage

This meal, created by Brian, won a recent Top Chef elimination challenge & I've appropriated it from the Bravo website. This sounds so very delicious & will be one of the first things I make for myself once my bionic esophagus heals. Leanne Wong demonstrates the basics of making the sausage on this short webcast. I highly recommend watching it. I've also added some hyperlinks to some of the more unusual or possibly obscure ingredients.

SAUSAGE:
1 Corvina seabass or any other seabass (1/2" cubed)
1/2 lb Black Tiger shrimp
1/2 lb scallops
1 T garlic chopped
1 T ginger chopped
1 bunch green onion – chopped
1 bunch cilantro – chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 T sesame oil
2 T red wine vinaigrette
2 T soy sauce

SWEET CHILI GLAZE:
1 cup Sambal chili paste (available in the international section of many grocery stores)
1 cup honey
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 T corn starch
2 T water

JICAMA SLAW:
1 jicama – peeled, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 carrot peeled, julienned
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

GINGER VINAIGRETTE:
1/2 cup shallots
1/2 cup ginger, peeled
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/4 cup Sriracha (available in the international section of many grocery stores or Asian specialty grocery stores)
1 cup canola oil
2 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1. For the Sausage: Combine all ingredients in food processor and Pulse until smooth. Form patties or pipe onto plastic wrap and form links.
2. For the Sweet Chili Glaze: Combine water and corn starch until smooth. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry and boil for 3 minutes. If this is too hot add more honey. If you like the glaze to be hotter add more sambal. If you like it thicker, add more slurry. Brush the sausage with the sweet chili glaze during BBQing.
3. For the Jicama Slaw: Combine all.
4. For the Ginger Vinaigrette: Combine all but canola oil in a blender. Slowly drizzle in oil with blender on high. Combine with slaw.
5. For Plate up: Serve the sausage with the jicama slaw on the side.

deekay's Cream Cheese Penguins

I'm crediting deekay with this recipe because while I'm not sure she's ever made it, she was the one who told me about it & was shocked that I'd never seen or heard of them. I've got to make these sometime, if only because they're so very ridiculously cute. Ingredients

• 18 jumbo black olives, pitted
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 18 small black olives
• 1 carrot

Directions

1. Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.
2. Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

Britomart's Miraculous Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie

Okay, so it was probably only miraculous to me in that it was one of the only things that kept me going while I was on that interminable puréed food diet. This was yummy enough that I'd make them for BritoDad, too. He said they tasted nothing like a smoothie & everything like something he'd get at Dairy Queen & feel guilty about.

• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 generous tablespoons of peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's which is a lovely mix between natural peanut butter & the mainstream processed stuff.)
• Couple generous scoops of vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 C soy milk (or normal milk)
• 3 or 4 ice cubes

Optional healthfoody additions (utterly unnecessary, but awfully good for you)

• 1 tbsp of Brewers Yeast
• 1 tbsp of flax seed oil

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree the heck out of them until the ice cubes have been throughly defeated and pulverized.

MartianIceQueen's Sweet Potato Maple Muffins

This recipe comes from the New Basics cookbook. I haven't tried these yet, but Martian reports they're divine. And I trust her in all things.

• 1 sweet potato
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) butter at room temp
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup maple syrup

(I substitute 1 1/8 tsp Penzeys Baking Spice mix for the allspice and cloves)

1. Bring saucepan of water to a boil, add sweet potato, and simmer until tender. Drain and allow potato to cool slightly, then peel and cut into several pieces. (I usually just use leftover roasted sweet potato)
2. Puree potato in a food processor until smooth; you should have 1/2 cup. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line muffin tins. (the recipe says to use 2 eight-cup tins; I use a standard tin with 12 cups)
4. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cloves.
5. In another bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in milk, maple syrup, and sweet potato puree; mix thoroughly.
6. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour potato mixture into it. Stir just until ingredients are incorporated - do not overmix.
7. Fill the cups about 2/3 full with batter (I just fill 'em until the batter runs out). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack and allow to cool.

digmom's Pork & Black Bean Chili

digmom casually mentioned making this in the Hizzy & a number of us pounced on her, demanding a recipe. Rather than counterattack, she kindly shared.

• 1 large boneless pork chop, if fresh slice into thin strips; if frozen, slice into small chunks
• chili powder
• olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeño peppers, minced
• 3 bell peppers (1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow) chopped into large pieces
• 2 cans black beans, drained
• 2 cans minced tomatoes
• salt

Slice pork chop into thin strips (or chunks, if frozen) and sprinkle it with chili powder. Cook it in a pan with some olive oil over medium heat until almost cooked. Put pork and juice into a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, sauté one yellow onion, chopped, and two jalapeños, minced. Sprinkle with chili powder. When starting to get soft, add the chopped bell peppers and sauté until peppers turn bright colors. Add two cans of black beans, two cans of diced tomatoes, then add the meat & reserved juices. Add chili powder and salt to taste. Cook at a low boil until it gets to a consistancy you like, or you get too hungry to wait.

Keckler's Balsamic Mary

I have appropriated this from one of Keckler's Top Chef recaps. It will be one of the first alcoholic beverages once I'm allowed to have citrus, tomatoes & alcohol again. Feel free to make and describe in loving detail so that I may live vicariously through others in the meantime...

• 2 ounces Hangar One Kaffir Lime Vodka (or vodka of your choice)
• 1 lb ripe Heirloom tomatoes
• 1 pinch celery salt
• 1 pinch Kosher salt
• 1/4 freshly ground black pepper
• 3 dashes Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
• 2 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh horseradish
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 boccaccini mozzarella balls, for garnish
• Celery stalk, for garnish

Pierce the bottoms of each tomato with an "X" and bring a large amount of water to a boil. Toss the tomatoes in and leave them for thirty seconds. Pull the tomatoes out and shock them in a large bowl of ice water. Peel off the skins, cut out the stem, and cut the tomatoes into chunks. Puree the tomatoes in a blender and measure out six ounces. It's up to you if you want to strain the six ounces or not. It doesn't change the flavor, just the thickness of the end result. Store the rest of the juice in the fridge in an airtight container. (Brit note: If you don't have time to do this, or it's not the season for tomatoes, V-8 or any good tomato juice should substitute just fine.)

Combine all ingredients except the garnishes in a cocktail shaker with ice and stir. Fill a 16-oz glass halfway with ice and strain cocktail into glass. Garnish with three toothpick-speared boccaccini balls and the celery stalk.

If you can find it, you might want to use the newest in celery cocktail garnishes: the edible straw. The hollow celery -- a horticultural mash-up of ordinary celery and a wild hollow strain -- is called Dandy in the produce section of your nearest grocery store.

Now, the lycopene in tomatoes is supposed to lower cholesterol, but if that's not a problem for you, use a garnish unique to Bloody Marys in Minnesota: a Slim Jim.

To make this virgin, replace the vodka with the same amount of fresh squeezed lime juice.

Makes 1 drink.

adharas' Sweet Potato Fries

I was on a sweet potato kick this summer and Martian is always on a sweet potato kick, so adharas sweetly shared this recipe with us.

• 1/2 lb sweet potatoes, cut into fries
• 1 T grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/t extra virgin olive oil, (I used a splash)
• garlic powder
• cayenne, pinch
• 1/8t paprika
• salt
• pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Toss potatoes with everything else. Put in single layer on baking sheet. Bake 8 mins, flip potatoes, bake another 12 mins or so, till tender and browned in spots.

Serve immediately.

Snuggle Muffin's Victoria Cake

Snuggle made the loveliest cake recently. I'm quite sure it will taste as good as it looks.


Cake

• 150g (6 oz) butter, softened
• 150g (6 oz) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 3 medium eggs
• 150g (6 oz) self raising flour
  
• 3-4 drops vanilla extract
• jam (strawberry, raspberry or damson)
  

Butter Cream Frosting

• Approx. 50g (~2 oz) butter, cold (unsalted if you have it)
• Approx. 100g (~ 3.5 oz) icing sugar (powered sugar/confectioner’s sugar)
• A few drops of vanilla extract
• A little water or milk

Optional:
A few handfuls of strawberries

Heat the oven to 180oc, 350of, Gas mark 4, and grease and line two 18cm (7inch) sandwich tins. Cut up the softened butter and beat until soft. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Mix in one egg at a time adding a little of the flour each time. Add the vanilla extract and the rest of the flour and stir in well.

Pour into the prepared tins and bake for 20 -25 minutes.

When completely cool spread jam (strawberry, raspberry or damson work well) on to both halves of the cake and make the frosting.

To make the frosting add the sugar, butter and vanilla extract to a food processor or beat with electric mixer until combined into a stiff paste. The measurements are approximate so use your own judgment. While it’s mixing it might look like it’s turning into scrambled eggs; it isn’t, it just takes a little while to blend, but it will. If it’s too stiff add a bit of the milk or water. Spread the frosting on to the bottom half of the cake with a pallet knife (or plastic spatula), which you can run it under some water first to make it easier to spread the frosting smoothly.

If you would like, you can slice up some of the strawberries and place them on top of the frosting before putting the top half on.

sylph's Peach Ice Cream

I need to buy an ice cream maker.

• 5 cups ripe peaches, peeled and chopped
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature
• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon amaretto
• dash of salt
• 4 cups half and half
• 3 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)

In a blender, purée 3 cups of the peaches. Mash the remaining 3 cups of chopped peaches with a potato masher. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla and salt until well blended. Set aside.

In a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, heat the milk and cream, just until it begins to steam. Pour a little of the heated mixture into the egg and sugar mixture, and stir. Then pour the bowl of egg/sugar/milk mixture back into the heavy saucepan. Continue to cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and smooth. Remove from heat, and refrigerate the mixture for several hours or until well chilled.

Add the puréed peaches to the chilled mixture, stir well, and pour into a 5-quart ice cream freezer can. Turn on the ice cream freezer or crank it by hand for 5 minutes. Then, carefully remove the top of the can and the dasher, and add the reserved 2 cups of mashed peaches, mixing them in with a long spoon. Put the dasher back in and the top back on, and continue freezing according to the manufacturer's directions. Allow ice cream to ripen for at least an hour. Makes about 3-1/2 quarts.

blue artemis' Chicken and Potato Enchiladas

Here are some yummy sounding enchiladas from our queen of the cookfest! Amounts are a bit approximate, but the details should sort it all out!

• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 medium potatoes
• oil
• seasoned salt
• chicken broth
• monterey jack or ranchero cheese
• corn tortillas
• salsa
• green beans (optional)

You cook chicken, and then shred it. Set that aside. Peel and cube potatoes. Fry them in a bit of oil, until they are all coated (season with seasoned salt). I then throw in a bit of chicken broth (usually from where I cooked the chicken) and cover them and let them cook until they are tender (stir occasionally so they don't stick). Once they are done, mix in the chicken, and set aside. You should also have some cheese (monterey jack or ranchero, or whatever, really). I also like a can of french cut green beans.

You then have two small frying pans on the front of the stove. In one, heat oil to fry corn tortillas. In the other, heat the salsa you are going to use.

Once the oil is hot, take a tortilla, place it in the oil to fry for about 30 seconds, then turn it over for another 30 seconds. Then take that tortilla (let it drip a bit over the oil) and dip it in the salsa, turning it over to coat. Now is the messy part, where you put the tortilla on a plate put some of the chicken/potato mixture in it, add some green beans if you like, then sprinkle some cheese and roll it up. You can put more cheese on top. Repeat until you have enough enchiladas to feed everyone.